| Wikisource: Epistle to Yemen |
| Epistle to Yemen by Moses Maimonides |
| The Epistle to Yemen (Iggeret Teiman), probably a compilation of several shorter responsa, was written by Maimonides about 1172 in reply to an inquiry (or inquiries) by Jacob ben Netan'el al-Fayyūmi, the then head of the Jewish community in Yemen. The exchange of letters was occasioned by a crisis through which the Jews of that country were passing. A forced conversion to Islam, inaugurated about 1165 by 'Abd-al-Nabī ibn Mahdi, who had gained control over most of Yemen, threw the Jews into panic. The campaign conducted by a recent convert to win them to his new faith, coupled with a Messianic movement started by a native of the country who claimed he was the Messiah, increased the confusion within the Jewish community. Rabbi Jacob evidently sought guidance and encouragement, and Maimonides attempted to supply both. Originally written in Arabic, this edition is that of the 1952 English translation by Boaz Cohen, published in New York by American Academy for Jewish Research, edited from manuscripts with introduction and notes by Abraham S. Halkin. |
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Source
- Moses Maimonides, Moses Maimonides' Epistle to Yemen: The Arabic Original and the Three Hebrew Versions, Edited from Manuscripts with Introduction and Notes by Abraham S. Halkin, and an English Translation by Boaz Cohen. New York: American Academy for Jewish Research, 1952.
copyright status
The 1952 Boaz Cohen translation has entered the public domain. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, for works first published or copyrighted between January 1, 1950, and December 31, 1963:
If a work was in its first 28-year term of copyright protection on January 1, 1978, it must have been renewed in a timely fashion to have secured the maximum term of copyright protection. If renewal registration was made during the 28th calendar year of its first term, copyright would endure for 95 years from the end of the year copyright was originally secured. If not renewed, the copyright expired at the end of its 28th calendar year. [1]
As there was no renewal for this 1952 Boaz Cohen translation by the end of 1980 (28 years after the original copyright date), the copyright has expired and it is in the public domain. (see copyright database)
There is a subsequent edition by the editor of the 1952 version, Abraham S. Halkin, who published a derivative work by Jewish Publication Society of America in 1985. As this is a new translation by a different translator, with new matter added, published 5 years after the original copyright expired, the following U.S. Copyright law applies:
The law provides that derivative works, published or unpublished, are independently copyrightable and that the copyright in such a work does not affect or extend the protection, if any, in the underlying work. [2]
Other translations
- Moses Maimonides, Epistles of Maimonides: Crisis and Leadership, Translation and Notes by Abraham S. Halkin, Discussions by David Hartman. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, reprint edition, October 1992 (from August 1985). ISBN 0827604300
- "Maimonides' Epistle to Yemen (1172)", translated by Joel L. Kraemer, in Lerner, Ralph, Maimonides' Empire of Light: Popular Enlightenment in an Age of Belief, Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2000, pp. 99-132. ISBN 0226473139
Notes
- ↑ "Circular 22: How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work - The Date in the Copyright Notice", U.S. Copyright Office.
- ↑ "Circular 22: How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work - Derivative Works", U.S. Copyright Office.
External links
- The Jewish National and University Library: Digitized Hebrew version
- Yale University Library Maimonides Exhibit: Rare edition of Igeret Teman ha-nikrah Petah Tikvah (Epistle to Yemen called Gate of Hope) Hanau, 1715
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